Eating Disorder in India: A Review Paper

Abstract

In India, there has been intermittent study on eating disorders, but no attempt has been made to compile and analyse the literary landscape. As a result, the current narrative review attempts to synthesise Indian work on eating disorders, identify current trends, and identify research needs that will guide future work in the field. In October 2018, an electronic search was conducted using the Medline, Google Scholar, and PsycINFO databases to find relevant peer-reviewed English language articles using combinations of the following medical subject headings or free text terms: "eating disorders", "anorexia nervosa", "bulimia", "treatment", "epidemiology", "co-morbidity", "management", "medications", "behavioural intervention", Author names, year, the state in India the work originated in, kind of intervention (for interventional studies), comparator (if any), and key outcomes were among the details retrieved from research. Over the recent decade, there has been an increase in research focusing on eating disorders from India, although it remains an under-researched subject, as demonstrated by the scarcity of original studies. The cultural distinctions between east and west have contributed to disparities in presentation and diagnostic difficulties. As a result, there is a need for culturally appropriate diagnostic tools as well as the collection of regionally relevant epidemiological data on eating disorders from community and hospital settings.